Christo Popov Makes History at the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals

Christo Popov was the best in the men's singles at the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals (doc. BWF).

JAKARTA - Men's singles badminton player, Christo Popov, defeated the host representative, Shi Yuqi, to make history as the first French representative to successfully climb to the highest podium at the BWF World Tour Finals.

Popov climbed to the highest podium of the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals after winning two sets straight 21-19 and 21-9 in a match that was less dramatic in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday, December 21, 2025.

In addition to making history, Popov also had an incredible journey during the tournament. In the group stage, he won all three matches including defeating Indonesian representative, Jonatan Christie.

"I'm very happy and the record of being undefeated throughout the tournament also has more meaning," Popov said as quoted from the BWF official website.

All three matches in the group stage were played in three games. After passing the qualifying stage, Popov then defeated Kodai Naraoka from Japan in the semifinals with two straight sets to meet Shi Yuqi.

Previously, no French badminton player had ever won a tournament of this level. This achievement surpassed the victory of Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue at the Indonesia Open earlier this year and the victory of Alex Lanier at the Japan Open in 2024.

For Popov, whose best achievement was only at the Super 300 level, the World Tour Finals title was a dream debut among the world's eight top players. This result in China also further confirms that he is now in the elite badminton world.

"Every match is very difficult. I'm happy because I didn't give up in the last moments. I'm very happy with the effort and energy I put on the field," said Popov.

From this tournament, South Korea managed to come out as the overall champion with three titles. They won the women's singles title through An Se-young, the men's doubles through Kim Won-ho/Seo Seung-jae, and another title belonged to Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee.

As for the mixed doubles, the title was secured by the host pair Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping. They defeated their compatriots Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin.